Selection device of carrier rods for knitting machines



P. DHONDT July 2, 1968 SELECTION DEVICE OF CARRIER RODS FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 21, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 X J a m a x; a r l 0 oooo r o If a X W a a 3 0 o R Q Q Q o l: \n R. i 0 33%: o M, 0Q w HZ 5% .tu f NM 0 o o c v Q N mM\ 0 U 00 O m N L U INVENTQR. P. 0/70/7612! ATTORNE'BS P. DHONDT July 2, 1968 SELECTION DEVICE OF CARRIER RODS FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed 061,- 21, 1965 5 Sheets-$heet B INVENTOR. 0h on d t BY I GLLML an.

ATTOQNEL-Ss July 2, 1968 P. DHONDT 3,390,551

' SELECTION DEVICE OF CARRIER RODS FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 21, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

R p/lonclt ATTOILNC-"s United States Patent 3,390,551 SELECTION DEVICE 0F CARRIER RODS FOR KNITTING MACHINES Prosper Dhondt, Wondelgem, Belgium, assignor to Fabrique National dArmes dc Guerre, Soclete Auonyme, Herstal-near-Liege, Belgium Filed Oct. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 500,089 Claims priority, application Belgium, Sept. 14, 1965, Patent 669,576 2 Claims. (Cl. 66-127) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A selection device of carrier rods for knitting machines includes two pairs of interconnected pistons, each movable Within a separate cylinder, which bring an angularly movable abutment into one of four predetermined posi tions and thereby select the desired carrier rod.

The present invention concerns an improved selection device of carrier rods for straight knitting machines. In that kind of knitting machines, which are each provided with a plurality of knitting heads, each needle bed is supplied with threads by yarn guides, whereby one yarn guide is used for each type of colour of knitted thread and the guides delivering the same type of thread, mostly one per needle-bed, are carried by a common part called carrier rod. These carrier rods run parallel to the longitudinal axis of the knitting machine and are selectively driven, via a selecting device, by a common part moving to-and-fro in a straight line and controlled by the pickingup cam of the machine. This common part also moves the sl urcams and carries a friction box in order to provide the headway of the active yarn guides on the slurcams, the construction and operation of which are well known.

The selection of the carrier rods takes place according to the kind of fabric to be knitted and at a sequence which is controlled by the programmation device of the frame.

The selection devices of carrier rods in present day use have the disadvantage of making it imperative, for each type of thread being used, to knit an even number of rows of stitches, because, in these devices, the carrier rods can only be selected and/or driven when the corresponding yarn guides are on a given side of the needlebeds.

The main object of the present invention is to eliminate this drawback by providing a selection device allowing to knit any number of rows of stitches according to any sequence which may be variable and this with all threads in use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a selection device which is extremely simple, practically foolproof and of very small bulk.

According to the present invention, the improved selection device is a knitting machine of the type mentioned above, substantially consists of the combination, on the one hand, of a projection on each one of said carrier rods and, on the other hand, of a pair of displaceable stops connected to said friction box, the displacement of said stops being controlled by pneumatic devices which in turn are controlled by the programmation device of the machine, in such manner that said stops may either surround any one of said projections, or be brought into a neutral position out of engagement with said projections.

In this way, it is possible to drive any one of the carrier rods, whatever he the side of the needle-beds where the yarn guides in question are situated. In other words, it is possible to knit an odd number of rows with any one of the threads laid by said guides, which was not possible with the devices in actual use today.

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For giving a better understanding of the characteristic features and advantages of the device conforming to the present invention, a particular form of embodiment of the latter will be described hereafter by mere way of illustration and without being of any restrictive nature, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic front view of a knitting unit of a knitting machine equipped with the device according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of the device according to the present invention, when viewed in the direction of arrow F2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the device according to the present invention; and

FIGURES 4 to 7 illustrate different characteristic positions which can be assumed by the device according to the present invention.

FIGURE 1 diagrammatically illustrates the extreme lelthand knitting unit of a machine equipped with the device conforming to the present invention. In this example, the machine is equipped with three main carrier rods (1, 2 and 3 respectively, as shown in FIGURE 2) running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the machine. Each one of said carrier rods carries a certain number of yarn guides, at the rate of one guide per knitting unit. For the sake of clearness, only carrier rod 3 has been illustrated in FIGURE 1, whereby this rod carries, facing the needle-bed 4, a yarn guide 5. The carrier rods 1 to 3 are supported and/0r guided by comb-like supports 6 fastened to uprights 7 of the machine frame. The ma chine is also equipped with a friction rod 8 moving toand-fro in a straight line, whereby this motion is controlled by the picking-up cam of the machine (not illustrated). The friction rod 8 drives, in a way known as such, a friction box 9.

According to the present invention, each one of said carrier rods 1 to 3 is provided with a projection directed upwards, 10-12 respectively. On top of said carrier rods 1 to 3 there are two parallel guiding rods 13 and 14 respectively, supported by trunnions provided in said uprights 6, such as the trunnions 15 and 16 (FIGURE I). Said guiding rods 13 and 14 act as guides to a runner 17 which is also fastened to said friction box 9. This runner 17 is U-shaped, whereby its branches encompass the sleeves 1848' and 19 surrounding respectively said rods 13 and '14. The sleeves 18 and 19, as Well as the guiding rods 13-14 are designed in such a way that said sleeves follow each rotation of said rods while being able to be displaced longitudinally along the latter, for instance by means of a key-and-slot connection (not illustrated) while sleeve 18 is mounted loosely around said rod 13.

Each one of the sleeves 18' and 19 is provided with a toothed sector 20 and 21 respectively, which sectors are in constant mutual mesh. Moreover, the sleeves 18 and 18 each have a stop 22 and 23 respectively, of which the spacing apart is slightly in excess of the width of any one of said projections 10-12. It results therefrom that to each rotation of rod 13 corresponds an angular displacement of stop 23, while a rotation of rod 14 causes, via the toothed sectors 21 and 20, an angular displacement of stop 22.

The guiding rods 13 and 14 can be pivoted and immobilized in any one of four characteristic positions by means of a pneumatic device 24. The latter substantially consists of a plate 25, supported for instance by the upright 7 of the machine frame, and comprising on one of its faces a ridge 26 at the upper end of which are fastened two opposite clevises 27 and 28 of which each one holds the upper end of a pneumatic device. Each one of said pneumatic devices consists of an upper cylinder 29 containing a piston 30 the rod 31 of which, extending downward, is fastened to a lower cylinder 32.

The latter contains a piston 33 provided with a rod 34 extending downward and of which the lower end is pr vided with a clevis 35.

Each one of both clevises 35 is connected by a pivot 36 to an arm 37 and 38 respectively, of which the other end is fastened respectively to the guiding rods 13 and 14.

Each one of said cylinders 29 is provided in its upper part with a supply/ discharge tube 39, while each one of the lower cylinders 32 is similarly provided with a tube 40.

Onto each one of said pivots 36 is hooked the lower end of a return spring 41 and 42 respectively. The upper ends of said springs 41 and 42 are hooked respectively to the studs 43 and 44 provided for this purpose on said plate 25. Said tubes 39 and 40 are controlled by a series of valves which in turn are controlled by the programmation device of the knitting machine, in order to allow either the shutting off of one or the other of the cylinders 29 and 32, or the communication either of said cylinders with a source of compressed air or with the atmosphere. As such an arrangement of valves provides no difficulty whatever to anyone cognisant of the art, the valves are not illustrated in the appended drawings. The arrangement described above thus makes it possible to bring about and to immobilize the guiding rods 13 and 14 and hence also the stops 22 and 23 in four well defined positions, namely:

(1) Pistons 30 and 33 in high position: the stops 22 and 33 do not meet any of the projections 10-12 in their path (FIGURE 4);

(2) Piston 33 in the low position: the stops 22 and 23 encompass projection 10, which causes the carrier rod 1 to be driven by the friction rod 8 (FIGURE 5);

(3) Piston 30 in the lower position and piston 33 in the high position: the stops 22 and 23 encompass the projection 11 and the carrier rod 2 will thus be moved (FIG- URE 6) and, finally (4) Pistons 30 and 33 are both in the lower position: the stops 22 and 23 encompass projection 12, thus causing carrier rod 3 to be moved (FIGURE 7).

The control of the aforementioned pneumatic devices preferably is designed in such a way that one of the stops 22 or 23 will push the projection of the selected carrier rod when said rod is moved, which is brought into active position before the other stop, this latter one being only brought into the corresponding position after said active stop has engaged said projection. This provision systematically avoids all possibility of defective operation if ever a carrier rod to be selected should not strictly occupy the position of rest which is assigned to it.

One of the outstanding advantages of the selection device described above results from the fact that anyone of the projections 10-12 can be picked-up and/or released by the stops 22 and 23 either at left or right side of the needle-bed 4, and this whatever be the required sequence of colours.

Morever, this selection device is quite simple, very sturdy and reliable in operation.

0n the other hand, the pneumatic control of the selection is almost instantaneous, which makes it possible to attain, without hindrance, very high knitting rates. It is evident that numerous alterations may be introduced into the device described above, both concerning the shape of each one of its constituent parts as with respect to the relative positions of the latter, without exceeding the scope of the present invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a knitting machine having a plurality of knitting units located side by side, yarn guides supplying threads to said knitting units, separate guides being provided for separate types and colors of thread, a plurality of carrier rods, a separate carrier rod supporting guides supplying the same type of thread, the carrier rods being located side by side and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the knitting machine, projections carried by said carrier rods, a plurality of slur earns, a friction rod controlling said slur cams, means reciprocating said friction rod and a friction box carried by said friction rod; a selection device for said carrier rods, said selection device comprising two angularly displaceable stops adapted to engage said projections, two sleeves carrying said stops, two guide rods extending parallel to said carrier rods, said sleeves surrounding one of said carrier rods, a sector carried by one of said sleeves, a third sleeve surrounding the other one of said carrier rods, another sector meshing with the first-mentioned sector and fixed to said third sleeve, a runner fixed to said friction box and having two arms, said three sleeves being located between said two arms, and pneumatic means controlling the angular position of said guide rods, said pneumatic means comprising a separate device for controlling each of said guide rods, each of said controlling devices having an upper cylinder with air supply and discharge passages, a piston movable in said cylinder, a downwardly extending piston rod connected with said piston, another cylinder connected with said piston rod and having air supply and discharge passages, another piston movable in the second-mentioned cylinder, another downwardly extending piston rod connected with the second-mentioned piston, and a radial arm fixed to a separate guide rod and pivotally connected to the second-mentioned piston rod, whereby each of said controlling devices controls the angular position of one of said stops through one of said guide rods.

2. A selection device in accordance with claim 1, comprising return springs connected to said radial arms and to the machine frame and urging the radial arms upwardly.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,963,473 6/1934 Richter 66l26 2,202,521 5/1940 Gastrich 66127 2,234,885 3/1941 Tuchscherer 66l27 2,410,668 11/1946 Lynam 66l26 2,442,822 6/1-948 Monk 66l26 2,939,304 6/ 1960 Kreienbuhl et a1. 66l26 3,277,672 10/ 1966 Oliver 6-6-14 ROBERT R. MACK-BY, Acting Primary Examiner.

R. FELDBAUM, M. STEIN, Assistant Examiners. 

